Relatives of a Jewish art collector whose drawings were bought by the British Museum after being looted by the Nazis expressed "distress and disappointment" yesterday when a judge ruled that the museum had no powers to return them despite wishing to do so.

The British Museum yesterday issued its most stinging rejection yet of Greek pleas for the return of the Parthenon marbles, on the day an exhibition opened to show how even a partial return of the sculptures could dramatically alter the way they are seen.